Aqua cultured redux

[kalkbreath]

Well time for round two of my attempt to reword the hobby lingo.

Whats your thoughts on the this approach;

We use a four letter code to explain an aqua-cultured corals origins.

The first two letters will explain the corals grow out conditions.

OC
will stand for "Ocean Cultured" = in the ocean (sunlight lagoons/seafloor)
Lagoon grown conditions adapt more to aquarium conditions but the light source is still sunlight.

AC
will stand for "Aquarium Cultured" = in an aquarium(artificial light/ salt)
Captive grown corals are already adapted to aquarium light and water.

RC
will stand for "Raceway Cultured =in a land based raceway(seawater/sunlight)
Raceway corals are used to sunlight and seawater.
GC
will stand for Greenhouse cultured.= Sunlight with artifical seawater.
These corals are used to synthetic salts, but still like sunlight.


Next the second set of letters will designate the source of the mother colony.

WC
will stand for "Wild Collected". = (taken off the reef)
ACWC would mean a wild coral grown out under aquarium conditions.
OCWC would mean Ocean Cultured from a wild mother.
GCWC would mean grown in a green house from a wild source.

AC
will stand for "Aquarium Collected"=( collected from an aquarium )
ACAC would mean Aquarium Cultured from an Aquarium Cultured mother.
ACACAC would mean third generation.

OC
will stand for "Ocean cultured " = ( an Ocean cultured mother)
OCOC would mean Ocean cultured x2
OCOCOC would mean third generation ocean cultured.

GC
Will mean its green house grown mother colony.
GCGC GC would mean third generation green house grown.(like ORA Fla)

RC
would mean from a raceway cultured broodstock .
RCRCRC would be third generation Raceway like( ORA Marshall Islands).


What do you think?
This would make clearer the way in which the coral was collected.
The way and under what growing conditions the coral is accustom.
And what Generation the coral is and thus how stable the morph might be under a specific culturing method.
And finally how acclimated the coral is to aquarium conditions.

Jeff CBA

 

[wolfie]

A question here.

As a customer. Who are going to remember all that?

 

[xyzpdq0121]

I think you can call the thing "Collected on the Moon" but that does not mean that the LFS store down the street is going to adopt the same lingo.

By the time I were to look up what all the "ROACOCACGC" letters mean, I would have read "Race Way Cultured from and Ocean Colony" and moved on to the next coral.

For that matter, All I care about is if it is a wild caught colony or aquacultured colony. I can not think of a reason why I care as to how it was aquacultured, just that it was!

 

[kalkbreath]

Yes, I understand that some hobbyists don't care if the collection of wild corals by our our hobby affects the reefs or if the coral they just bought is going to turn brown one week after they take it home.
But some people do care and hopefully more will once they understand how a coral found its way into an LFS's display tank can affect more then just your pocket book.
It seems odd that there are so many books geared for hobbyists explaining in great depth how certain corals are found growing in the wild , but so little information on how aqua cultured corals are found growing. What the point if the coral or clam never new or experienced its broodstocks place in the wild.
Just because a clam species usually is found living on the sand means nothing to the concrete raceway farmed clam. The Maxima, Gigas and Derasa clams hobbyists buy are all gfound growing on concrete. They have never even seen sand!
Todays Modern American would never make it living in the not so distant "wild past"
Like wise farmed corals can come from very different growing conditions.
Whats true for wild corals may not be true for cultured corals.

Jeff CBA

 

[kalkbreath]

Xyzpdq0121;28822 wrote: I think you can call the thing "Collected on the Moon" but that does not mean that the LFS store down the street is going to adopt the same lingo.

By the time I were to look up what all the "ROACOCACGC" letters mean, I would have read "Race Way Cultured from and Ocean Colony" and moved on to the next coral.

For that matter, All I care about is if it is a wild caught colony or aquacultured colony. I can not think of a reason why I care as to how it was aquacultured, just that it was!

One thing you might consider when buying race way grown corals is that the sunlight these coral are grown under is actually brighter then wild corals.( two feet deep raceways)
This means there is little chance of you duplicating the condition in your aqaurium. Acropora grown in raceways have a greater difficulty keeping their colors in the aquarium. Wild sps are usually collected in fifteen to thirty feet of water. The UV levels and color of the light is different.
But then again who cares right?

 

[kalkbreath]

WOLFIE;28805 wrote: A question here.

As a customer. Who are going to remember all that?

Its a little like learning reef tank husbandry, A little at at time.
Think of the different types of reef tank set ups.
Berlin method
Deep sand
Plenum
Bare bottom
refugium
magic mud
Jauber Method
FOWLR
and so on
If we agree that each reef tank method has advantages and limitations.
Why wouldn't we want to learn how the coral farmers keep their corals?

I hope you now know a little more about about the different forms of aqua culture then you did last week before I brought the issues to your attention.
Thats what makes this hobby so great , is that even little changes in the growing conditions can have a big effect on the end result.
Jeff CBA

 

[broreefr]

I think I am beginning to see the light in your way of thinking, but we are so a small community here, why dont you run your idea over on RC in one of the advanced forums for input. They have a broader range of hobbiests there.

I would be interested in seeing how it is recieved by a larger community.

 

[mojo]

I like the idea. I think it'd work as long as you made the notation at the bottom of the name in small letters or something (to be inconspicuous but still there). If CBA kept it on everthing, then word may get around.

I, for one, would read them.

 

[kevin]

I agree. as long as it is consistent and on everything, it would be great!

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Hey Jeff:
I, too, like this idea, but the time scale is still lacking. And I am still unconvinced of "generations" in corals. How do you determine generation in animals that asexually reproduce? Is it a frag that has regrown? Technically, this is still that same animal, just a healed injury. Also, how long have the WC, RC, or GC been in AC conditions? A week, a month, a year? This, too, is quite important. I think perhaps a more defined first steps would be to differntiate between wild reef impact or not. Say "this coral is available due to reef impact", or "this coral has zero reef impact".

That being said, I still think you are oin the right track, and I will observe and utilize your codes. Well done.

 

[dakota]

That actually makes sense to me.

And that's really saying something.</em>

It will certainly mean a lot more work for you- keeping track of this info and educating your customers.

Why don't you just shorten it to OC3 rather than OCOCOC? Gota be easier on the label maker.